If your child has a life-threatening condition, including allergies, asthma, diabetes and seizure disorders, you will need to meet with the school nurse before the first day of school or any of the kindergarten readiness programs. The nurse will confirm all medications, medical supplies and healthcare provider orders are in place.

Kindergarten Readiness Programs

Highline offers unique programs for incoming kindergarten students to help them be “ready for kindergarten” in the fall. These programs include PreK Play & Learn, Kindergarten Jump Start and WaKIDS. The programs are free for registered kindergarten students. For more information, contact Elisa Turner at 206-631-3190.

Children are learning all of the time and they learn best with the support of those who care about them. Highline's PreK Play and Learn is a free preschool program that provides a structured time for children to learn the skills they need to be successful in school.

The program is open to children who will attend kindergarten the next school year. A parent or guardian attends the program with each student. This provides an opportunity for parents to learn how to teach their children at home.

At Highline's PreK Play & Learn, children will experience:

Circle Time: when we gather as a group to sing songs, learn finger plays and read books.

Kindergarten Jump Start is a week-long learning experience to help incoming kindergarten students and their parents be ready to start school. This program is free and open to all incoming students who are registered for kindergarten at a Highline elementary school.

The next Jump Start session will be offered in August 2018. The start time of the program is 8:40 a.m. or 9:10 a.m., depending on your school's regular school year start time. Please check the top left corner of your school's website to see this time.

Jump Start helps children familiarize themselves with their new school, kindergarten teacher, classmates, and daily schedule before school starts in September. Children participate in typical kindergarten classroom activities, tour the school campus, and experience outdoor play just like they will at recess.

Breakfast is served at each Jump Start school site. Transportation is available for students who are registered in time to set up the bus route.

Students must be registered for kindergarten to attend Jump Start. To register for kindergarten, please visit your neighborhood elementary school.

The Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) is a transition process that helps to ensure a successful start to the K-12 experience and connect the key adults in a child’s life.

Three Components

Family connection welcomes families into the Washington K-12 system as partners in their child’s education.

Whole-child assessment gives kindergarten teachers information about the social/emotional, physical, cognitive, language, literacy and mathematics development of the children in their classrooms, so they may tailor their instruction to the individual needs of each child.

Early learning collaboration aligns practices of early learning professionals and kindergarten teachers to support smooth transitions for children.

Resources

What is WaKIDS? (PDF) English | Spanish – a one-page document that provides an overview of this program.

Family Brochure (PDF) is an invitation for families of students who are participating in WaKIDS this year to get involved in the program and find out what to expect.

Parents and families have a very important role as their child's first teacher. Children learn in different ways and at different rates. They come to school with varying skills.

We encourage our families to work with their students at home. To help, we've created the Kindergarten Readiness Guidelines which highlight some of the skills children need to be prepared for kindergarten. These guidelines are a parent resource designed to help families prepare children for school.

This document does not need to be completed and turned in at the school, but rather is for parents to keep as a guide to kindergarten readiness.